This Comfort town lot was purchased by Eduard Degener, Eduard Steves, and William Heuermann from John Vles of New Orleans through his attorney Ernst Altgelt for the purpose of erecting a monument. The price was $20.00, and the purchase took place on 19 August 1865, the day before the mass burial. Local stonemasons, likely including Emil Serger, built the monument of locally quarried limestone, and several different carvers worked on the name plaques. The twenty-foot obelisk weighs 35,700 pounds. Its top has nine restored original stones, including the four name tablets. The three courses of the base were replaced during a restoration completed in 1996, and a long-term time capsule was emplaced within the second course. The United States flag has thirty-six stars, reflecting the banner in use at the time of the monument's dedication in 1866, after the nation had grown from thirty-three states at the start of the Civil War, with thirteen seceding to form the Confederate States of America and Kansas, West Virginia, and Nevada later admitted.

Photo: TeamOHE

Photo: TeamOHE

Comfort, Texas · USA